I Still Think It Was Misguided...

[richiebee]

... for the BC \"braintrust\" to split the big event by gender and to race on
Friday and Saturday, as opposed to say Saturday and Sunday.

BC will be able to rationalize a potential decrease in handle on its 2 day event
based on a weak economy (can\'t call it a Recession, its an election year), but
the truth is that a Saturday/Sunday event would have attracted more attention
and produced a larger handle.

I haven\'t forgotten about the big bad NFL, but the Breeders Cup races seem to
have at least a half hour between them. Lets take a guy, a dedicated horseplayer
AND football bettor. Lets call him Jim(bo) the Plunger. JTP is a guy who begins
handicapping (both pigskin and ponies) well in advance, so it is not hard to
imagine that JTP could get enough monitors set up in his in- home wagering
bunker to follow all the action without missing a bet or too much of the action
on either front. Following the football action would give one a great excuse to
totally miss the TV coverage of the BC, which historically has ranged from in-
effective to downright embarassing (its been so bad recently I even find myself
wistfully wondering where \"Muttonf-----gchop\" has been).

BC and horseracing marketeers still speak as if they are competing with the NFL
and other sports/entertainment outlets for the support of the casual sports fan/
horseplayer. The ship which carries these casual fans only stops at Racing\'s
port once a year-- on the first Saturday in May.

I have an idea for next year\'s 2 day event: (unless of course they add more
races and stretch out to 3 days) Run all the grass races on one day. The day
could be sponsored by John Deere Tractors (already a BC sponsor), Scott\'s Turf
Builder lawn products, and Bambu.

[P-Dub]

I don\'t have a problem with either situation you described.

Whats wrong with featuring the females on Friday??  The Distaff is one of the best races of the BC, and has traditionally been buried in the middle of the card.  It also takes a back seat to the Classic. Giving it feature race status on Friday is well deserved and gives it the exposure it deserves.

As far as Saturday and Sunday, you mentioned the NFL.  We all know football is king in this country, why do you think they don\'t have Sunday night football during the World Series??  Because more people will watch week 8 of the NFL instead of a World Series game.  Ridiculous but true. And its not just the gamblers.  The NFL has exploded due to fantasy football,  not necessarily gambling on games. These people want to watch the players on their team perform. Directv bought the right to Sunday NFL football for 3 billion dollars because fantasy geeks want to watch football. Each Triple Crown race has a  major race day the Friday before, and there is not a lot of competition on Friday either. So you either go on Friday with minimal competition, or Sunday against the number 1 sport in the country.  

As far as competing for the casual sports fan, there is enough exposure on tv and websites that sports fans are aware of the BC. Not one of them will tune in on a Sunday afternoon. They may on a Friday afternoon,  the end of the week with nothing else on.  Just my 2 cents.

[richiebee]

P-Dub:

I can feel the glow coming through your post, the glow you have had since your
placekicker split the uprights in Sunday\'s epic Raider- Jet battle. I was
watching thinking it would be kind of neat if CBS, instead of running \"60
Minutes\" promos ad nauseum, had Dick Enberg\'s smooth voice saying \"Coming up
Next on Your Local Stations, \'Heidi\'\".

You may be too young to remember the famous NBC Jets/Raiders/Heidi game (1968).

Dub, one day we may agree on a topic pertaining to Racing, but I always respect
your opinion.

I think the stated mission of the BC marketing people is to reach out to the
casual racing fan. Most casual racing fans on the East Coast (some big cities
out here) are going to be at work while most of these Friday BC races are being
run.

Take Richiebee for example. About 3 weeks ago, my boss, an understanding man,
walked up to me and said \"Rich, are you going to be taking Friday the 24th off?\"

I told him I was not. I am not yet ready for a 2 day BC extravaganza. I will be
happy to leave work at 5PM, drop into the Blarney Stone next to the local OTB,
toss down a couple of cold Sammies, and watch and wager on the last 2 Friday
BC races. (This is a slight variation from the usual routine, which finds me
occasionally visiting the same OTB (sans Sammies, of course)for the early NYRA
double).

I have already decided that while the BC has expanded, my wagering behavior will
not. As such, I will limit myself to the late double Friday and the Pick 4
which consists of the final 4 BC races Saturday, while making a win bet now and
then early in the BC card. Man\'s gotta know his limitations, no?

[P-Dub]

Richie,

Greetings from the Left Coast.

I was 5 yrs old for the Heidi game.  Just a couple years too soon, I cut my teeth on Raiders football in 1970.  Lamonica to Wells, Charlie Smith,  Big Ben, Blanda, etc... The 70\'s was a great time to be an East Bay sports fan. Spent a lot of time at the Coliseum.  Pretty decent baseball team played there too as I recall.

I guess I try to see things half full.  You make a lot of valid points, I was looking at things from another perspective. Hard to say either of us are right or wrong. Since I\'m flying down Thursday afternoon, my view may be a bit rosier than the average person too. Can\'t wait to get there.

Good to hear from you, I may shock you and agree with BC analysis in the coming days. The thing I really respect about you is that despite the fact we almost always disagree (my friends know that I\'m quite opinionayted and deal with this all the time) you are open minded to my opinions.  Thanks for that. Good luck this weekend.